This invention relates to game playing methods for gaming machines such as video slot machines and video poker machines. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for providing player tracking services in a gaming environment.
There are a wide variety of associated devices that can be connected to a gaming machine such as a slot machine or video poker machine. Some examples of these devices are player tracking units, lights, ticket printers, card readers, speakers, bill validators, ticket readers, coin acceptors, display panels, key pads, coin hoppers and button pads. Many of these devices are built into the gaming machine or components associated with the gaming machine such as a top box which usually sits on top of the gaming machine.
Typically, utilizing a master gaming controller, the gaming machine controls various combinations of devices that allow a player to play a game on the gaming machine and also encourage game play on the gaming machine. For example, a game played on a gaming machine usually requires a player to input money or indicia of credit into the gaming machine, indicate a wager amount, and initiate a game play. These steps require the gaming machine to control input devices, including bill validators and coin acceptors, to accept money into the gaming machine and recognize user inputs from devices, including touch screens and button pads, to determine the wager amount and initiate game play.
After game play has been initiated, the gaming machine determines a game outcome, presents the game outcome to the player and may dispense an award of some type depending on the outcome of the game. A game outcome presentation may utilize many different visual and audio components such as flashing lights, music, sounds and graphics. The visual and audio components of the game outcome presentation may be used to draw a players attention to various game features and to heighten the players interest in additional game play. Maintaining a game player's interest in game play, such as on a gaming machine or during other gaming activities (e.g., table or pit games), is an important consideration for an operator of a gaming establishment.
One related method of gaining and maintaining a game player's interest in game play are player tracking programs which are offered at various casinos. Player tracking programs provide rewards to players that typically correspond to the player's level of patronage (e.g., to the player's playing frequency and/or total amount of game plays at a given casino). Player tracking rewards may be free meals, free lodging and/or free entertainment. These rewards may help to sustain a game player's interest in additional game play during a visit to a gaming establishment and may entice a player to visit a gaming establishment to partake in various gaming activities.
In general, player tracking programs may be applied to any game of chance offered at a gaming establishment. In particular, player tracking programs are very popular with players of mechanical slot gaming machines, video slot gaming machines, and table games. In a gaming machine, a player tracking program may be implemented using a player tracking unit associated with the gaming machine and in communication with a player tracking server.
Typically, when a game player wants to play a game on a gaming machine and utilize the player tracking services, a game player inserts a player tracking card, such as a magnetic striped card, into a card reader associated with the gaming machine. After the magnetic striped card has been so inserted, the player tracking unit associated with the machine may detect this event and receive certain identification information contained on the card. For example, a player's name, address, and player tracking account number encoded on the magnetic striped card may be received by the player tracking unit. In general, a player must provide identification information of some type to utilize player tracking services available on a gaming machine. For current player tracking programs, the most common approach for providing identification information is to issue a magnetic-striped card storing the necessary identification information to each player that wishes to participate in a given player tracking program.
Player tracking cards and player tracking programs are becoming more and more popular. They have become an extremely effective marketing method for gaming establishments. The programs allow a casino to identify and reward customers based upon their previous game play history. In particular, a goal of the casinos is to identify and then to provide a higher level of service to certain groups of players identified as especially valuable to the casinos. For instance, players that visit the casino, on average, once a week may be deemed as “special” customers and the casino may desire to cultivate a “special” relationship with these customers.
Disadvantages associated with conventional player tracking systems which inhibit a gaming establishment's ability to provide player tracking services to a significant number of customers relate to the manner in which individual player tracking accounts are typically created. That is, the creation of a player tracking account typically involves a process by which the player is required to explicitly provide the required personal information, e.g., by filling out a registration form, and is subsequently issued a player tracking card which must be presented each time the player wishes to take advantage of the player tracking program.
Because such a process requires affirmative action on the part of the customer and takes time away from actual gaming, a significant number of casual or infrequent customers will not bother to register. This may be because they don't want to take the time or simply because they are unaware of the existence of the player tracking services. This frustrates one of the primary goals of player tracking systems in that such individuals are precisely the people in whom gaming establishments intend such programs to generate interest.
In addition, the requirement that players present a dedicated player tracking card to avail themselves of player tracking services can itself be a disincentive for some to participate. That is, in an age where the average individual holds multiple membership cards for a variety of incentive programs, e.g., frequent flyer and shopper programs, adding another such card for each gaming establishment one visits is seen by some as undesirable.
It is therefore desirable to provide techniques by which players in gaming establishments can take advantage of player tracking programs and which overcome the aforementioned disadvantages.